One Thing After Another
by Deana
Summary: Things go from bad, to worse, to downright horrible when Ardeth and Rick go to a nearby oasis to gather new falcons. Soon they wish they'd never gone at all.....takes place after 'Wrath's Return'.
1. Not More Pygmies!

One Thing After Another 

A Mummy Story by Deana Lisi

Disclaimer: I do not own Ardeth Bay, (boo hoo) but Safti is mine, of course! :) This is the 2nd Mummy story I'd ever written, (back in 2001!) and I figured it needed some revising, and dividing into chapters, so here's the first 2. Plus, 'new' people to ff.net might not have read it yet, and it's too funny to miss, lol, so enjoy! :)

"Wow," said Rick.

"Yes," said Ardeth, riding his horse beside him. "This is a beautiful place."

The two of them had been riding for a few days, bound for this oasis. Evy had gone to help take care of her ailing aunt in Wales, and Alex was away at school, so Rick had gone to see Ardeth; spending time with his friend was much better than moping around the house all alone. 

"So this is where the Med-jai get their falcons?" Rick asked.

Ardeth nodded. "The best ones are found here, they are the easiest to train."

Rick wondered how the location of a bird would have anything to do with its 'intelligence'. "I don't see any," he said.

"You will."

Rick kept his eyes peeled, and tried whistling to see if any would come. A minute later, he suddenly saw movement to his right. "There's one," he said, pointing to a tree.

Ardeth watched it fly. "That one is too old."

Rick raised his eyebrows. Ardeth could tell the bird's age just by looking at it? He was about to ask how he could tell when he heard a hissing sound. Looking at the ground, he saw a huge snake in his path and jerked the reins of the horse, nearly bumping into Ardeth's.

"Whoa," he said. "Anything _else_ I should look out for while we're here?"

"Just the pygmies," Ardeth said.

Rick's eyes widened. "Pygmies? We come here to grab a few birds, and now you're telling me we might have to kill some weird little freaks?"

Ardeth looked at him, a twinkle in his eye. "I am joking," he said. "There _were_ pygmies here at one point, but they were eradicated from this place."

Rick sighed with relief. "Good."

Ardeth went on. "They were especially dangerous, attacking _anything_ and _everything_, for the sake of a kill. One of them was never confirmed as being dead, but it has been a long time, I am sure that it is no longer living."

Rick looked at him, with a shrug. "Oh well," he said, with a laugh. "I'm sure we can defend ourselves against one meager pygmy if we have to."

********************

Ardeth stopped his horse as they reached a stream. They'd managed to catch four birds, and were taking their time now, enjoying the scenery. 

Rick sighed. "Evy would love to see this. In fact, Alex is probably gonna kill me when he finds out I came to Egypt without him."

Ardeth smiled. "He can not get into any trouble if he is not here."

Rick rolled his eyes. "Don't I know it! He'd probably wish he was here to see this pygmy of yours, as if he hasn't seen enough crazy things already!" 

As he dismounted, they suddenly heard a wild, inhuman yell, and the pygmy in question was flying through the air, going right over Rick's now-unmanned horse. He ducked as it went flying over his head and smack into Ardeth, who hadn't had time to draw a weapon.

Med-jai and pygmy both fell from the horse, landing on the ground with a thud.

"Hey!" Rick said, pulling out his gun. He aimed it at the pygmy, but couldn't get a good bead on him without possibly hitting Ardeth. Instead, he ran over, intending to yank the pygmy off his friend, but Ardeth flung the creature off him.

Rick shot it without hesitation, and knelt beside the Med-jai. "Are you okay?"

"Yes," Ardeth said, out of breath.

Rick grabbed his arm to help him up, but Ardeth gasped and reflexively pulled his arm away. Rick felt something wet on his hand and saw that it was blood. "You're hurt!"

"It is nothing," Ardeth told him.

Rick looked to the pygmy, to see the bloody knife it still held in its lifeless hand. "It stabbed you, Ardeth! Let me see!"

Ardeth sighed as Rick looked closer at the wound in his upper arm.

"Let's sit over there," Rick said, pointing to a grassy area beside the stream.

Ardeth blinked back sudden dizziness as Rick pulled him up by his uninjured arm and lead him to the spot. He couldn't believe that the stupid pygmy had still been alive all this time…

"Sit here," Rick suddenly said.

Ardeth obeyed, leaning against a huge rock. He couldn't hide a wince when Rick eased the sleeve off his arm.

Rick almost gasped when the wound was completely exposed. "This is 'nothing'? You're bleeding like a slaughtered pig!"

Ardeth had to resist the urge to laugh at his statement. "I have had worse."

Rick looked at the wound again; it had to be a good six inches long, as if the pygmy had stuck the knife in and raked it downwards. "I'll bet," he said, in reply to Ardeth's statement. Standing, he quickly ran back to the horses to got the first aid supplies. 

Ardeth watched Rick's comical dash; tripping in his haste. With a sigh, Ardeth closed his eyes against the pain, but quickly reopened them when his friend came back.

Rick tried everything he could to stop the bleeding, but nothing was working. He couldn't believe how much blood Ardeth was losing so fast. With each passing moment it hurt more and more, and Ardeth realized that the wound was much worse then he'd originally thought. 

"Rick," he said, through clenched teeth. "You'll have to stitch it closed."

Rick sighed, knowing that Ardeth was right, but nervous at the fact that he didn't exactly have much practice in that area. _That's more Evy's job…_With a sigh, he grabbed a flask of whiskey he'd brought. "Here."

Ardeth shook his head at him.

Rick made a face, holding it out. "Drink this."

"I can not," Ardeth told him. "You know that we are forbidden strong drink."

Rick rolled his eyes. "Ardeth, you're forbidden _drunkenness_, drinking for pleasure. This isn't the same thing; I can't sew you up while you're wide-awake! Don't you realize how bad this'll hurt?"

"Yes," Ardeth said, softly.

Rick just looked at him for a minute, realizing that he meant that literally. Shaking his head, he tried again. "Look, Ardeth, consider it _medicine!_ I can't do this otherwise."

"You must," Ardeth said, with a sigh, feeling himself growing weak from the blood loss.

Rick noticed, and knew that time was running out. "So you won't drink it, then?"

"I can not."

"And nothing will change your mind? Nothing at all?"

Ardeth wearily shook his head.

Rick sighed. "Then there's only one thing left for me to do."

Before Ardeth had a chance to ask him what that was, Rick launched his fist into Ardeth's face, accidentally knocking his head against the rock he was sitting against, with an audible *smack*. 

Rick's jaw dropped. "Ardeth?"

The Med-jai warrior was out cold.

Rick tapped his hand against Ardeth's face. "Ardeth?"

Nothing.

Rick could not believe what he'd just done. He'd tried to spare his friend horrible pain, but most likely had given him a concussion instead.

As he worked on Ardeth's arm, one thought ran through his mind. _He's gonna kill me…_

OUCH! lolol Just a little note to my faithful reviewers…if you already reviewed this the first time I posted it, ff.net won't let you re-review chapter 1, (unless it wasn't a signed review _and_ you have a different PC than you did 2 years ago, lol) But since I have more chapters now, you'll be able to starting with chapter 2. Thanks for reading; the angst isn't even CLOSE to being over for our poor, gorgeous hunk of Med-jai! 


	2. Owwww

"Ardeth? Ardeth, old buddy."

Ardeth could hear his name being called, and he wondered why. The last he knew, he and Rick had gone to the oasis to 'recruit' more falcons. He heard the voice again, more incessant. He realized it was Rick's voice. 

"Come on, Ardeth, open your eyes, will ya?" Rick sighed when his friend's eyes remained closed. Ardeth had been out cold for nearly nine hours, and Rick was out of his mind with worry, not sure if the prolonged unconsciousness was due to Ardeth's blood loss, the crack on the head, or both. 

Rick saw a slight twitch in Ardeth's face again; it'd been going on for the past few minutes, and he'd been hoping it meant that he was waking up.

"Ardeth? Wake up!"

Suddenly Ardeth opened his eyes, closing them again quickly with a gasp.

"Ardeth?" Rick said, touching his good arm. "You okay?"

The Med-jai Chief opened his eyes again, much more slowly. He found himself lying in the grass, not remembering how he got there. His head throbbed painfully, and sharp needle-like pain shot up and down his left arm. 

"Ardeth?" Rick said again, concerned when he didn't answer.

His friend looked at him, finally. "Rick?" he said, groggily, to the blurry figure looking down at him.

Rick felt a knot grow in the pit of his stomach when he saw that Ardeth was having trouble seeing. He held up his hand. "How many fingers do you see?"

Ardeth looked at him as if that was the dumbest question he'd ever heard. He squinted, trying to count. "Three?"

Rick sighed. The correct answer was 'two'. _I can't believe it; I really did give him a concussion!_ "How do you feel?"

The Med-jai sighed, closing his eyes. "Like I was run over by a camel."

Rick smiled at his humorous phrase.

"What happened?" Ardeth asked, still sounding groggy.

Rick frowned, getting nervous again. "You don't remember?" 

Ardeth shook his head, and winced, regretting the motion.

"You were attacked by a pygmy," Rick told him. "It stabbed your arm."

_So that is why it hurts._ Ardeth tried to move his wounded arm, and gasped at the pain.

Rick held him down. "No, Ardeth, don't move!"

Ardeth didn't say anything. For some reason his face hurt when he talked and he suddenly remembered the day's events. "You hit me." 

Rick nearly groaned. _He didn't remember getting stabbed, but he remembers what I did to try to spare him pain…although it didn't quite work…_"I did that so you wouldn't have to suffer while I sewed you back together!"

Ardeth didn't answer, closing his eyes drowsily instead. When he didn't open them again after a minute, Rick gently shook him.

"Ardeth, don't go to sleep," he said, urgently. "They say people with concussions have to stay awake…"

Ardeth heard his friend, but his voice drifted further and further away….

********************

When Ardeth woke again, it was night. He saw that he was in a cave, and Rick was sitting next to him, taking his pulse. He was staring at his watch, and didn't see that Ardeth was conscious. 

Ardeth closed his eyes again, the light from the lantern hurting them, increasing the throbbing in his head. Ardeth _hated_ headaches; they made him unable to think clearly, unable to function normally. He suffered from them too often, and the Med-jai healers had not been able to come up with a good reason, other than the fact that as the leader of the Med-jai he was under continuous stress. _Although, that is not the reason for this one,_ he remembered. He opened his eyes again and saw Rick looking at him.

"You're awake!" said Rick, sounding very relieved. 

Ardeth nodded—slowly this time. "You found the cave."

Rick nodded. "Yeah. Do you feel any better?"

Ardeth almost laughed at that question. "No."

Rick sighed heavily. "I'm sorry I hit you, Ardeth—"

"No apology necessary."

"Yes it is!" Rick said. "I gave you a _concussion_, for cryin' out loud!"

"But I understand why you did it."

Rick frowned at his friend's choice of words. "You mean you understand why I knocked you out. Yeah, fine. But I should've known you were gonna hit your head!"

"How would you have known?" Ardeth asked, wishing Rick would keep his voice down.

"Maybe because there was a huge rock right behind you?!" Rick said, sarcastically. 

_True,_ Ardeth thought. He shivered, suddenly realizing how cold it was in the cave.

Rick frowned. "You okay?"

"A little cold."

Rick jumped to his feet and ran over to the packs and supplies they had brought. He came back with a blanket, and draped it over Ardeth. "Better?"

Ardeth was still cold, but he answered, "Yes," anyway.

"Hungry?" Rick asked him.

"No."

"You should eat something, buddy, try to get some strength back."

The thought of food turned Ardeth's stomach, probably an effect of the concussion, but he didn't tell Rick that, not wanting him to feel worse then he already did about it. "No, thank you," he said. "But I would like some water."

Rick ran back to the supplies and brought back a canteen. He held Ardeth up so he could drink it, and when he laid him back down Ardeth realized that there was something soft under his head. _Rick's jacket,_ he realized, seeing that his friend wasn't wearing it in the night's chilly air. Hoping he hadn't gotten any blood on it, he reached up to feel if there was a cut on his head. What he encountered was a huge, tender lump, and managed to bite back a gasp at the pain that touching it had caused.

Rick noticed. He sighed again, and tried to start a conversation. "How's you arm feel?"

"Like it is broken," Ardeth admitted.

"I should change the bandage," said Rick. "You can see my handiwork!" He tried as gently as he could to remove the bandage, which was spotted lightly with blood, despite the stitches he'd put in it. He could see Ardeth biting his lip against the pain, and he wondered if the pygmy's knife had put a slice or something in the bone.

"There," Rick said. "What do you think?"

Ardeth found that even though Rick still looked blurry to him, he could see his wound pretty clearly. Apparently distance made a difference; he found that interesting. He looked in surprise at how long the wound was. It was red and inflamed and ugly, but Rick's stitches didn't look too bad, considering he didn't really know what he was doing. There appeared to be a few dozen of them, but his headache wasn't allowing him to count. "I am impressed," he said.

Rick smiled. "Really? It took me a while, I put in almost 40 of 'em." He gave a sheepish shrug. "I didn't want to risk it bleeding anymore."

Ardeth felt himself drifting off again, as Rick bandaged him up. He wasn't sure if it was sleep or unconsciousness that was pulling at him and he tried to fight it, remembering what Rick had said earlier about concussions.

He forced his eyes open and saw Rick looking at him worriedly.

Before Rick could ask if he was all right, Ardeth said, "Where are the birds?"

"Outside the cave, still in the cage."

Ardeth realized that that was a silly question. Where else would they be? He saw Rick's look of concern and knew that he was thinking the same thing.

"I am trying to remain awake," Ardeth explained. 

"Oh," Rick said. "In that case, I have a question for you," he said, figuring that Ardeth couldn't fall sleep if he was busy talking. "How in the world did you know that first falcon was too old?"

Ardeth frowned, not sure how to put it into words. He just _knew_. "The way it flew," he said. "Slower, with not as much energy. It's face…_looked_ older," he paused, shutting his eyes tight against a wave of pain. "I am sorry, I can not think."

Rick felt like a jerk again. "It's okay, Ardeth, I'm sorry, I shouldn't be asking you questions, you need to rest."

Ardeth sighed, wishing he could just go to sleep. He tried to read the time on Rick's watch, but he couldn't see it from there. "What is the time?" he asked.

Rick looked at it. "2am."

Ardeth was surprised, thinking it to be no later then 8 or 9pm. He'd been unconscious for the better part of the day! No wonder Rick was so nervous. "I am sorry for keeping you up," he said.

Rick shook his head. "Don't be. It isn't your fault."

"You can go to sleep," said Ardeth. "I will be all right."

Rick made a face at him. "Are you _kidding_ me? Would you go to sleep if you had a wounded man that might need your help?"

Ardeth didn't have the energy to answer. He could _not_ keep his eyes open, no matter how hard he tried. He shivered again, trying not to make it obvious, and a minute later was fast asleep.


	3. RABID CAMEL! AHHHHHHHH! lolol

Rick jumped, with a start, realizing that he'd been sleeping. It was broad daylight, and he quickly looked over at Ardeth, who was still asleep. 

He looked at his watch. Nearly noon! Scrubbing his hands over his face, he sighed. It'd been a heck of a long night; at 5:30am Ardeth had woken up in a panic. Rick had to grab him when he'd nearly jumped to his feet. He'd looked at Rick like he didn't know who he was, and his face looked flushed. Rick felt his forehead and found it to be too warm.

"Ardeth, it's Rick!" he'd said. "Take it easy, you're feverish, you must've had a nightmare."

Ardeth had calmed down and simply laid there, disoriented, not saying a word. His fever wasn't high, but the blank look on his face scared the crap out of Rick. Ardeth had eventually fallen back to sleep, and Rick found to his dismay that he had too. _Some guard dog I am! _

He took the cloth off Ardeth's forehead that he'd soaked with cool water; it was now dry. Rick felt his friend's forehead and was relived to see that the fever hadn't risen. He wet the cloth again and replaced it, glad to see that Ardeth wasn't shivering anymore, the heat of the desert and the blankets still covering him having done the job. In fact, Rick saw that it was now quite hot in the cave, so he took the blankets off his friend. 

Ardeth jumped when he did it, and opened his eyes. 

_Oops,_ Rick thought. "Ardeth? You awake?"

Ardeth blinked a few times. "Yes," he replied, sounding like he wished he wasn't. 

Rick sat up straighter, studying his friend. "You okay? Do you remember last night?"

Ardeth closed his eyes. "Some of it."

"Was I right, you had a nightmare?"

Ardeth opened his eyes again and frowned, as if he couldn't remember. Then his expression changed to one of surprise.

"What?" Rick asked.

"Yes, I _did_ have a nightmare."

Rick waited, but Ardeth didn't continue. "Well? What was it about?"

Ardeth seemed to hesitate before he spoke. "I was being chased by something."

"What was it?"

Ardeth hesitated again. "An animal."

"What animal?"

Ardeth sighed, wishing Rick wasn't so persistent. "A camel."

Rick sputtered. "A camel?! You had a nightmare that a _camel_ was chasing you?"

Ardeth said nothing, looking embarrassed.

"Why did it scare you? A _camel_?" Rick was trying not to laugh.

"It wasn't…normal," Ardeth tried to explain. "It was…what is the English word?"

"Rabid?"

Ardeth nodded again. "Yes, that is it."

Rick couldn't help it. He busted out laughing. "You dreamed you were being chased by a rabid camel!" he repeated, much to Ardeth's dismay. "Did it bite you?"

Ardeth didn't respond, still embarrassed over the fact that the dream had affected him in the way that it had. His silence made it obvious to Rick what the answer to his question was. 

Rick saw the problem, and tried to stop laughing. "Ardeth, don't feel bad, you weren't exactly coherent, you developed a fever. Believe me, if _I_ was in your condition, and dreamed I got bit by a rabid camel, I would've been scared out of my mind!"

Ardeth knew he was right, and it _did_ seem funny. He chuckled, but the motion hurt his arm and head so he stopped, wincing. 

As Rick came over to check his wound, Ardeth said to him, "I suppose you are going to tell everyone about my dream."

"What, you mean Evy and Alex?" said Rick. "Not if you don't want me too, although I admit that it'll be a hard secret to keep!" He made a face. "Ah, blackmail!"

Ardeth winced again, and Rick wasn't sure if it was because he was being too rough with his arm or because of his joke. 

Ardeth looked at his wound, relieved to see that it was no longer bleeding at all.

"It doesn't look infected," Rick said. "Thank God. How's your head?"

"What is the word, 'pounding'?" Ardeth asked.

Rick made a sympathetic face, nodding. He held up two fingers again. "How many?"

This time Ardeth could make it out. "Two."

"Good," Rick said, smiling. "Blurry?"

"A little."

"Well, it could be worse," Rick said, with a *phew *. "And that makes _me_ feel better," he said, smiling.

Ardeth smiled back, glad that Rick wasn't as upset at himself anymore.

"Will any of the Med-jai come looking for us when we don't come back?" Rick asked.

"No," Ardeth answered. "When I go for falcons, I am sometimes gone for many days." He smiled. "This place is my…escape."

Rick's eyebrows rose. It was nice to know that Ardeth had a place of solace, away from the daily tension of leading the Med-jai. 

"That's great, this is a beautiful place," said Rick. "My question, though, is this: shouldn't I be trying to get you back home? I mean, you need _real_ medical attention, medication against the fever and possible infection especially, not to mention painkillers."

Ardeth gave a slight nod in agreement, tiredly closing his eyes.

Rick watched him, wondering how Ardeth was able to quietly contain the pain he was in. "Ardeth?" he said, softly, not sure if he'd fallen asleep again.

Ardeth opened his eyes.

"I'm trying to figure out what to do," Rick said. "You don't look in any way able to travel. Should we wait till tomorrow, or what? I'll admit, what happened last night scared me. I was afraid your fever would get worse, and then…"

Ardeth sighed. "As you said, thank God the wound is not infected. But that doesn't mean it will _not_ become so." He could see that Rick was thinking the same thing, and understood his urgency. But he felt so weak; he doubted that he could even stand. Maybe he would do what Rick suggested, and eat, to try to get back some strength. He knew that he would need it in order to make the return journey through the hot desert. 

"Let us see what happens today," he said. "If I worsen, then we must leave. If not, then we will try tomorrow."

Rick nodded, hoping that the day would pass uneventfully.


	4. The Danger Mounts

To Rick's relief, the day passed without incident. He got his wounded friend to eat, and then Ardeth had slept the rest of the day.

It was late evening when Rick thought he heard something outside. _Voices? _He stood and looked out the mouth of the cave, and could see three shadowy figures on horseback. The cave was on a hill, and the men hadn't noticed it. Yet.

Rick watched them, unsure of what to do. He could see that the people weren't Med-jai.

"What is it?" he heard.

He turned to see that Ardeth was awake, looking at him.

Rick glanced again at the men, and then went over to his friend. "There are three guys out there on horses."

Ardeth frowned. "What is their attire?"

"Uh, brown robes, with a weird symbol on the back."

Ardeth's face showed shock. "Nomads," is all he said, however.

Rick studied him. "Just 'nomads'? There's something more to it. What?"

Ardeth sighed. "They are part of a tribe that…do not like me," he said, getting to the point.

Rick decided that this was a story he wanted to hear. "Great. What do we do now, kill them?"

Ardeth slowly shook his head. "If we did that the rest of their tribe would know it was done of the Med-jai, and attack my tribe." He paused, sighing. "We must let them be, and hope that they leave."

Rick nodded, noticing that Ardeth didn't seem any stronger, despite the food and rest. His fever-flushed cheeks emphasized his still-present paleness.

Ardeth suddenly winced and tried to shift his position, with little success.

As he helped his friend get more comfortable, Rick couldn't shake the terrible feeling that his delay in getting Ardeth home would prove to be a grave error.

"The horses!" he suddenly realized. "Those guys will see them and know someone's in here! Why haven't they already?"

"Too dark," said Ardeth.

"True, but I should sneak out and move them," said Rick. "Do you think they found the dead pygmy?"

"Perhaps not," said Ardeth. "If they came from the direction of their last known campsite."

Rick nodded, and stood, mumbling to himself. "Where the heck do I hide the horses…"

Ardeth heard him. "Behind the cave is a corral."

Rick's eyebrows shot up. "Really? Something _you_ put there?"

Ardeth nodded.

Rick wondered why Ardeth hadn't told him about it earlier, but knew he had enough on his mind, with his painful injuries. "Will you be all right alone?"

"Yes," Ardeth told him. "It should only take you a few minutes."

Rick took one of his guns out of its holster, and handed it to him. "Just in case," he said.

Ardeth smiled his thanks as he took it.

Rick tiptoed outside and saw the men surrounding a fire. He reached for the horses' reins—praying that Ardeth's steed wouldn't attack him, or something—and led them to where Ardeth had told him. 

He found the corral easy enough, and let the horses in, setting the cage of falcons on the ground outside the fencing, not wanting to risk the horses stepping on it.

Rick cautiously made his way back, and when he walked into the cave, found Ardeth pointing the gun in his direction, towards the opening. His aim was unsteady, as if the weapon was too heavy. 

When Ardeth saw that it was Rick who was entering, he weakly dropped his arm into his lap and closed his eyes.

Rick's fears doubled at the sight and he hurried over to his friend. "Ardeth?" he said, worriedly. He felt his friend's forehead and found it warmer. 

"I am all right," Ardeth said, an obvious lie. Why let Rick know he felt worse when he knew there was no way they could leave with the three nomads out there? The odds were bad; Rick would have to face the men alone.

Ardeth suddenly realized that Rick had his bandage off and was giving the wound a puzzled look. 

"I don't understand it," Rick said. "The wound isn't infected. So what's _wrong_ with you?"

Ardeth suddenly had a humorous thought. "I am getting too old for this?"

Rick laughed. "I don't see any gray hair on you yet, buddy! Besides, you're a year younger then me, and _I'm_ not too old for it yet!" He shook his head, but then suddenly his face showed alarm. "The pygmy's knife! You don't think he put poison on it, do you?" 

Ardeth shook his head slightly, even though the thought scared him. "They never have before. If he had, I would most likely be dead by now. Some other type of germ from the knife is possible…"

Rick jumped to his feet, starting to pace. "This is ridiculous! I gotta get you _outta_ here! We should've left earlier, before those guys got here."

"But we did not, my friend, that can not be helped," Ardeth said, softly.

Rick stopped pacing and sighed. "We need a plan. These nomads—do you think they're likely to leave in the morning?"

Ardeth resisted the urge to sigh back. "Possibly."

Rick looked at his watch; it was nearly midnight. "All right, and if they leave it'll probably be at sunup?"

"Most likely."

"Okay then," said Rick. "If they leave, good, we leave too. If not—we _still_ leave, with or without their permission."

Ardeth had to admire his friend's loyalty, but there was something to be said for knowing what you're doing. "And how do you propose we do that?" he asked, his eyelids growing heavy.

Rick sighed again. "I'll let you know when I figure it out."


	5. Bye Bye, Oasis!

For the rest of the night, Ardeth slept like a log, not stirring at all. Rick wasn't sure if he was asleep or unconscious. He stayed awake as long as humanly possible, but the events and worry of the past few days had left him exhausted.

Suddenly, Rick startled out of his sleep and sat up, not knowing what had woken him. He looked to Ardeth and saw that he was still out. His watch said 7:04am, and he went to the cave opening to see if the nomads were still there—

—and unexpectedly came face to face with one of them.

Rick started to go for his gun, but the nomad had a sword in his hand, and pointed it at him menacingly. He spoke in a language Rick didn't understand.

"Uh…what?"

"English," the nomad snorted, as if it were an insult. "If you wish to live, American, you will step aside," he said, taking a step towards Ardeth.

"I _don't_ think so!" Rick said. But before he had a chance to attack, the other two men came up behind the apparent leader.

Suddenly a gunshot rang out, echoing loudly throughout the cave, and the leader went down. Rick pulled out his own weapon and shot the other two. He turned around, and saw Ardeth with a gun in his hand. His eyes were closed, but he opened them when Rick went over to him.

"Good thing I gave you that gun yesterday!" Rick said, relieved. 

Ardeth nodded carefully, his eyes betraying his pain; from the sound of the guns, Rick knew.

Rick knelt beside him. "We're getting out of here right _now_. How do you feel?"

Ardeth sighed, wishing his head would stop ringing from the gunshots. "I will be fine; first you must get the horses."

Rick noticed that Ardeth didn't quite answer his question. He nodded and ran out of the cave, bringing the horses and falcons back. He gathered all their supplies and managed to get the horses packed up pretty quick before going back to Ardeth. "Ready?"

Without answering, Ardeth held out his good arm, and Rick pulled him to his feet. Ardeth immediately swayed dizzily, seeing spots before his eyes. His legs gave way but Rick was ready for that and supported his weight. He helped his friend walk—if you could call it that—out of the cave, and gently sat him on a boulder protruding from the side. 

"You okay?" he asked.

Ardeth sat there unsteadily, his right hand covering his forehead and eyes, his wounded arm hanging limply. He didn't answer, perhaps not having heard him through the hammering in his head.

Rick stood there and waited, knowing it would be cruel to force him to hurry. 

After a few minutes, the added pain that the walking had caused lessened somewhat, and Ardeth lowered his hand, opening his eyes with a shuddering breath.

Rick sighed inwardly. _Why did you have to be so brainless,_ he thought. _Look at how complicated you made everything by giving him a stupid concussion!_ He sighed, guiltily. "You need a sling," he suddenly realized, looking through the supplies for something to use.

"Use this," he heard. Ardeth was attempting to untie the sash he wore around his waist with one hand. 

Rick untied it for him, quickly making the sling and placing Ardeth's arm in it as gently as he could. It did the job perfectly. "Good," he said. "Now, the horse."

Getting Ardeth on the animal wasn't easy; he didn't have the strength to pull himself onto it with only one hand. Rick had to stand on the boulder that Ardeth had been sitting on, reach over the horse, and help pull him up. 

He smiled when it worked. "Great, you okay?"

Ardeth nodded, a little out of breath, trying to ignore the spinning landscape.

Rick jumped on his horse. "We're _outta_ here!" he exclaimed, with a sigh of relief.

********************

The journey through the desert was a slow one. It was unbearably hot: more so then usual. Rick wasn't surprised; everything _else_ so far had gone wrong! He'd tried to stop often, to give Ardeth a rest, but Ardeth had stubbornly insisted that he was fine. In truth, Ardeth knew he wasn't going to last very long, and so was trying to get as far as possible as fast as they could. 

Suddenly Ardeth heard his name being called, and he opened his eyes to see Rick's worried face above him. He was surprised to realize that he had apparently slumped forward onto his horse's neck. He felt Rick's hand on his good arm, and tried to straighten up, but gasped when a massive wave of dizziness swept over him, graying his vision. If Rick hadn't been holding onto his arm, he would've fallen right off the horse.

"Whoa!" Rick kept both hands on his friend to prevent him from falling, and jumped down from his horse. He then carefully pulled Ardeth down from his and laid him on the sand. 

Ardeth was hardly aware of anything until he felt water on his lips. To the average person it would've felt warm, but compared to the horrible heat it tasted great. 

After Ardeth had his fill, Rick wet a cloth and placed it on his friend's sweaty forehead, before digging the tent out of its pack.

Soon, the tent was standing, effectively blocking the sun's merciless rays. Rick sat next to Ardeth, who seemed to be in an exhausted daze. Sighing heavily, he wasn't sure now what to do, only able to think of one thing.

_Please, God,_ he prayed. _Let me get Ardeth home safely._

********************

When Ardeth next opened his eyes, it was night, and he found that he was freezing. It was a strange sensation, to fall asleep sweating and wake up shivering. It was colder then the previous night, the clear skies allowing for radiational cooling; the escape of the built-up heat of the day up into the atmosphere.

He opened his eyes when he felt something touch him, and saw that Rick was covering him with blankets. 

Rick saw that he was awake and smiled, glad to see him conscious. "How you doing?" he asked.

"All right."

"Are you warm enough?" Rick asked.

Ardeth nodded slightly, knowing that there were only a couple of blankets left and wanting Rick to keep some for himself.

Rick chuckled. "You're not very good at lying, buddy, even when you don't use words." He then proceeded to drape another blanket over him.

"You need that," Ardeth protested.

"But _you_ need it more," Rick said. "Hey, I lived in Chicago, you know what winters are like over there? This ain't bad," he said, gesturing outside the tent. "It seems colder to you because you lost half your blood, remember?"

Ardeth knew he had a point. He sighed, wondering when his pain would lessen. 

Rick checked his wound again and was relived to see that it still wasn't infected. "Fever hasn't risen anymore," he said, feeling his forehead. "Does _anything_ feel any better yet?"

"No," Ardeth answered with a sigh.

Rick echoed it. They were silent for a few minutes, before he said, "Don't worry, Ardeth, I promise I'll get you home."

"I know, my friend," Ardeth told him, as he fell back to sleep. "I know."


	6. What's TRULY Wrong With Ardeth? The Answ...

Thanks for your reviews! Gimme more! LOL ;) Sorry it took me so long to post this…I got a new job! :)

The next day promised to be as hot as the day before. Rick was upset; knowing they probably wouldn't get very far that day either. 

"Great, just great!" he said, as they still sat inside the tent. "I'm really beginning to _hate_ the desert."

"It has its disadvantages," Ardeth agreed.

"Name one _advantage_," said Rick.

Ardeth didn't have a quick reply.

"Ha, thought so."

"There is _one_," Ardeth said.

"What's that?" Rick asked.

"It keeps the Med-jai hidden."

Rick nodded. "Okay, _one_ advantage."

"We should start now," Ardeth said. "Before the worst of the heat comes."

Rick nodded. He quickly got the horses ready, taking the tent down last.

Ardeth kept his eyes closed tightly against the sun's brightness. It made his headache much worse, and he attempted to cover his eyes with his good arm, but he felt like he could hardly move. He wondered just _why_ he was so extremely weak. He'd had a lot of injuries in his life—many serious ones—and had not been as weak as this. The times that he _had_ been were when he had many injuries at once, such as when Lock-nah had abducted him the previous year.* True, he _did_ have more than one injury at the moment, but a stab wound and a concussion didn't seem like enough to make his condition _this_ depleted.  He knew that fever could make one weak, yes, but again, not quite this much. Yet here he was, Ardeth Bay—strong, fierce warrior, leader of the Med-jai—weaker than a baby. Could it really be a combination of the stab wound, head injury, fever and the massive heat? Maybe he was also becoming dehydrated. That was a likely possibility. Anything other than _that,_ he didn't want to consider.

"Ardeth?" he heard, having been unaware of Rick's voice. 

He opened his eyes halfway. 

"All set to go," Rick told him.

Ardeth nodded, and Rick pulled him up. The whole world spun, and his legs felt like jelly.

"Oh, man!" Rick exclaimed, when Ardeth fell against him, having no balance. "What _is_ this?" he said, scared that Ardeth seemed to be getting worse, instead of better.

"I do not know," Ardeth admitted, trying to blink back the black spots invading his vision. "Rick…you will have to tie me to the horse."

"Tie you to the horse?" Rick echoed. 

"Yes," Ardeth said, trying to remain upright.

Rick sighed, nervously shaking his head. He somehow got Ardeth on the horse and obeyed; tying him to it so he wouldn't fall off. 

Ardeth lay forward on the horse's neck, knowing he wouldn't be able to sit up for very long. He wasn't aware when Rick took the reins of his horse, and they started walking…

He was hardly aware of anything that went on that day, _period_.

********************

Ardeth felt like he was dreaming, but knew he wasn't. Tiny pellet-like things were hitting his face, and he could hear the howling wind and reverberating thunder. 

He suddenly felt himself being moved and wondered what kind of dream contained sounds but total darkness. He heard a grunt and his arm blossomed with pain.

Ardeth opened his eyes to see sand being whipped around in the wind. A sandstorm? No, a rare thunderstorm.

He felt himself being laid on the ground, and looked to see Rick furiously digging the tent out of one of the packs. He had it up in record time, and it wasn't until than that Rick saw that his friend was awake. 

"Thunderstorm," he said, unnecessarily, as lightning flashed.

"I noticed," said Ardeth, wincing.

"Sorry," said Rick. "When I was getting you off the horse I accidentally bumped your arm."

"It is not that," Ardeth said. He tried to reach over to the shoulder on his wounded arm, but his good arm felt as heavy as lead.

Rick frowned. "What's wrong?"

Ardeth wouldn't've bothered to mention it, but it was driving him crazy. "An itch. I can not stand it anymore."

Rick frowned deeper, as the sky opened up in a downpour. "When did it start?"

Ardeth tried to think. "I do not remember."

Rick crawled over to him and tried to sit him up. "Let me check it."

"What for, it is only an itch," Ardeth said, trying to hide the dizziness sitting up was causing.

"Sometime people get a rash when they're sick," said Rick. "Maybe it _was_ a germ from the pygmy's knife after all." 

Rick managed to hold Ardeth there and get his robes off his shoulder. What he saw made his jaw drop. 

His gasp struck fear into Ardeth's heart. "What?"

"Ardeth…um…something bit you. Something _big_."

Anxiety made Ardeth's head hurt even more. "Describe it to me."

"Well…" said Rick. "There's a really _huge_ bump—a welt. It's all red."

"Can you see the bite marks?"

"I only see one," Rick said, sounding puzzled. "How can there only be one?"

Ardeth sighed. "Is there swelling around it that is hard to the touch?"

The resulting pain from Rick's touch made Ardeth gasp. He knew what the answer was. "A scorpion."

"WHAT?!" Rick yelled, nearly louder then the thunder. "Ardeth, scorpion bites _kill_!" 

Ardeth sighed. "No, my friend, the majority of them do not, they make the victim ill."

Realization dawned on Rick. "So that's what's wrong with you!" He frowned. "But when did this—ohh, when the pygmy knocked you off your horse, you must've landed on the sucker."

Ardeth nodded, while the world started spinning again.

"Man, what do we do about it?" Rick asked. 

"The venom must come out," Ardeth told him.

"How?"

Ardeth looked at him, and Rick knew what he was going to say.

"Oh great..." he mumbled.

********************

Rick sterilized his knife in the flames of the fire he'd built after the storm had ceased. As he held it there, he sighed. Stitching up Ardeth's stab wound was _one_ thing, in fact, that had been bad enough. But now this? He shook his head, wondering what else his poor friend would have to endure before they made it home. 

As he walked back into the tent he was amazed at how much the temperature had dropped, thanks to the storm. They were both extremely grateful. 

Rick saw that Ardeth was still in the position he'd left him, on his right side so that he wasn't lying on the bite.

"Rick," Ardeth said, softly. "You must…do it…now."

Rick could see that Ardeth was shaking, and had hardly been able to get out the words. Seeing how much he'd deteriorated in less then an hour scared him to death. 

He quickly knelt next to his friend. "Ardeth, I gotta warn you, I can't knock you out _this_ time, and give you another concussion on top of the one you already have." He'd meant it to sound funny, to alleviate the anxiety they both felt. 

Ardeth smiled slightly. "That is all right…I will most likely…pass out…anyway."

Rick sighed, wishing he'd do that _before_ he took the knife to him.

He patted his friend's good arm reassuringly, and then crawled behind him. He looked at the horrible bite and saw that the swelling was increasing. He gingerly touched the knife to it, genuinely afraid to hurt his friend…he was dealing with enough pain already!

Ardeth managed to hold in his reaction, knowing that Rick had to keep the nerve to do it. "Rick…" he said, pleading. 

With a sigh, Rick quickly drew the knife across the bite.

Ardeth was out before he was able to make a sound.

Rick made a face at the grayish fluid that mixed with Ardeth's blood. He prodded at the swelling to make sure he got out as much venom as possible, glad to see the majority of the swelling disappear as the poison was extracted. When he thought he got it all, Rick bandaged it up, the cut not being deep enough to require stitches. Besides, he was afraid that in case he hadn't gotten all of it, stitches would seal it in.

When he finished, he sat back and looked at his friend, wondering what _else_ could possibly go wrong.


	7. Home Sweet Home! :

It was late the next morning when Ardeth woke up again. Rick had just finished checking the scorpion bite, and rolled Ardeth onto his back again to see that his eyes were open, blinking tiredly. 

Rick smiled. "Hey, how do you feel?"

Ardeth smiled slightly. "No worse."

Rick smiled back. "Finally! Do you think I can get you home now without anymore catastrophes?" 

Ardeth smiled again. "I sincerely hope so."

********************

After they ate they were again on their way. They tried to keep the pace as fast as possible, but Rick made sure they stopped frequently for water breaks. It'd been one thing after another, and he wasn't about to give heat exhaustion a chance to overcome them too. While relieved that Ardeth was no longer worsening, Rick was still worried about the fever plaguing him as a result of the poison that remained in his blood from the scorpion.

Ardeth was lying across the horse's neck again, knowing it was pointless to waste strength by trying to sit up. Rick kept talking to him, trying to keep him awake, not knowing if Ardeth was still susceptible to passing out.

"Repeat that?" said Ardeth, not sure if he'd heard right.

"I said that Alex was jumping around with a tree branch, pretending to be you," said Rick. "The branch was curled almost like the shape of a scimitar. He didn't know I was watching him as he swiped at invisible mummies!"

Ardeth knew that Alex was fascinated with the Med-jai, and seemed to think him his hero, but he hadn't quite known the extent of it. He couldn't help but laugh. "You must be very proud."

Rick laughed with him. 

Ardeth looked at Rick, deciding to tell him a story of his own. "When I was a child, I used to pretend that I was fighting 'the enemy'. I used to use anything I could find that resembled a sword. The elders thought it a sign that I would be a great warrior." He rolled his eyes at the last two words, and Rick laughed.

"They were right," Rick said.

"Yes, but besides that," said Ardeth, getting another laugh out of Rick. "One day, at four years of age, I came upon my father's scimitar that he'd left unattended."

"Uh oh," said Rick.

"I managed to unsheathe it, and drag it out of the tent."

"Did anyone see you?" Rick asked.

"No," Ardeth told him.

"So what happened?"

"I dragged it as far as I could, close to where my father was talking to a group of warriors," Ardeth told him. "Someone saw me then, and gasped, making them all turn and look at me. When I saw that I had their attention, I yelled out, 'I am a great warrior!' and tried to lift it."

Rick chuckled. "You remember this? Did someone grab it from you?"

"Yes, I remember it. Someone _did_ grab it, but not soon enough. Naturally, the sword was too heavy, and I fell on it."

Rick gasped. "You fell on it? Did you get hurt?"

Ardeth nodded. "It sliced across my stomach; I still have the scar. It wasn't the wound itself that nearly killed me—thankfully it wasn't _too_ deep—but the loss of blood was _very_ great. The future 'great warrior' almost didn't live to the age of five."

"Wow," said Rick. "I'll bet they kept all weapons away from you for a long time after that."

Ardeth smiled. "Yes, they did. My father never admitted it, but the first time he put a scimitar in my hands to train me, I could see the fear in his eyes, fear that I'd hurt myself again."

Rick shook his head. "I can understand you hurting yourself at the age of four, but did he really have reason to be afraid when you were older? You don't seem like a klutz to me!"

Ardeth frowned. "Klutz?"

"Oh, umm…a klutz is what you call someone who drops things a lot, gets into dumb accidents, trips over invisible things, and generally gets into trouble."

"Ah, Jonathan."

Rick laughed. "Yeah, Jonathan, now _he's_ a klutz!" He thought for a minute. "Come to think of it, Evy's done a few klutzy things in her lifetime too, it must be hereditary." He stopped the horses, and dug out the canteens, handing one to Ardeth. 

The water tasted good; Ardeth had to force himself not to drink it all, knowing it was a possibility that they could run out before they made it back. As he lowered the canteen, his arm shook, and he sighed at his lingering weaknessas he blinked back spots. 

Rick noticed. "You okay?"

Ardeth nodded slowly.

"Here."

Ardeth took the wet cloth that Rick held out to him, and gratefully wiped his face and forehead with it slowly, trying to soothe not only his skin, but his headache as well. He was amazed at how hot his skin was, and he knew it wasn't only due to the desert sun.

Rick watched him, concerned at his sluggishness. "Maybe we should stop here."

"No," Ardeth said, even though he wanted nothing more. "I am all right."

"You sure? You don't look it."

Ardeth nodded, not having spared a thought to his appearance. With everything he'd been through, he must look pretty bad. "I am fine," he said, lying against the horse's neck again.

Rick saw no point in countering Ardeth's statement, knowing that the poor guy just wanted to get home. He kicked his horse back to a walk, and they continued on.

They only managed to travel for another hour when Rick chose to stop. Ardeth was more asleep/passed out then awake, and Rick put up the tent and brought him inside.

It wasn't until after dark when Ardeth became aware that they'd stopped. "How far did we get?" he asked.

"Pretty far, we should get there tomorrow," Rick said.

Ardeth smiled, closing his eyes with a relieved sigh. "Good."

********************

The next morning, Rick was itching to get moving, but Ardeth was still asleep, and Rick didn't want to wake him. He paced back and forth in the tent, waiting for his friend to awaken, when he heard one of the horses whinny. He paid it no heed until he heard the other one do it, and then both of them together. Rick became aware of the sound of galloping horses, and he grabbed his guns and peeked out the tent flap. Not sure what to expect, what he saw nearly made him whoop with glee.

The group of Med-jai came to a halt, one of them dismounting.

"Safti! Thank God!" he exclaimed. "You won't believe what's happened."

Ardeth's second-in-command looked at him, puzzled. "What?"

"Ardeth's hurt—" 

Not letting him finish his sentence, Safti ran past Rick into the tent. Seeing his friend with an arm in a sling and looking pale and sick shocked him. "What happened?!"

Rick sighed. "I'll explain on the way, it'll take _that_ long."

********************

When Ardeth woke up again, he was in his own tent. He heard Rick's voice and opened his eyes to see Rick talking to Safti. Ardeth watched them for a minute before Safti saw him awake.

"Ardeth!"

Rick stopped and looked at his Med-jai friend, with a smile. "Hey Ardeth, feeling any better?"

Ardeth nodded.

"Great! Told ya I'd get you home!"

Ardeth smiled. "I knew you would, my friend." He looked at Safti. "Did he tell you the part where he punched me?"

Safti looked at Rick with horror. "What?!"


	8. Payback?

The next few days were better for Ardeth, as his fever finally left him and he began to recover and regain his strength. He was up and around somewhat a week later, and he left the tent one morning to search out Rick, nearly bumping into his friend who was about to enter the tent.

"Hey Ardeth, how ya doin'?" Rick said. 

"I am doing well," Ardeth told him. "I was looking for you."

"Yeah? For what?"

"After what happened in the oasis, I feel that I owe you something," Ardeth said.

"Oh yeah? What's that," Rick asked, slightly wary.

"This," Ardeth said, and drew back his fist. 

Rick closed his eyes, anticipating the punch that he knew he deserved…but nothing happened.

He opened one eye, then the other, to see Ardeth smiling, his fist mere inches from Rick's face. He lowered it, laughing. 

Rick started to laugh too, inwardly relieved. 

Ardeth held out his hand. "What I owe you is my thanks."

Rick took his hand, and shook it. "Anytime, Ardeth, anytime."

THE END

Note: I wanted so badly to name this story, 'Pygmies, Rabid Camels, and Scorpions, Oh My!' but I didn't want to give away the plot, LOL, so consider that to be this story's a.k.a., lol! 

Okay everyone, there it is, all revised and hopefully better, lol! Thanks for your reviews! :)


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